EFFECT OF FLUORIDE ON GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF TOTIPOTENT CELLS IN PLANARIA

Abstract

Planaria are free living flatworms that are known for their regenerative elasticity and ability to quickly regenerate body fragments. This is made possible by the totipotent neoblasts distributed throughout their body which is highly undifferentiated, holding the potential to divide into any type of cell in the Planarian body proper. This rapid regenerative property is what makes Planaria a great model system. Since they live in a vast array of environments, it is possible that they are exposed to various amounts of fluoride. Fluoride has been shown to have health benefits by strengthening bone and enamel. To further investigate the effects of fluoride, an experiment was designed to analyze the effect of fluoride on the growth of totipotent cells in Planaria. Planaria were cut midway through the body along the transverse plane, and each head and tail was placed in a solution of NaF ranging in concentrations of 0 parts per million, 1ppm, 25ppm, 50ppm, 75ppm, or 100ppm. Five segments of Planaria were placed in each concentration. Each day, for five days, a Planarian sample from each concentration was immersed in a preservation fluid and underwent histological tissue preparation to be observed under a microscope. The resulting pattern of mitotic activity suggests that fluoride may be beneficial to cell proliferation in concentrations between 25ppm-50ppm; however, further investigation must be done in order fill the gaps in data and verify patterns as being an effect of fluoride and not random chance.